Clearly, many still prefer the latter, to the tune of 5,062,500
gallons (more than 70 million cans) every holiday season, according
to Ocean Spray, even on holiday tables where everything else is far
more labor-intensive.

Pat Arimborgo of Rochelle Park says she spends hours on her
annual Thanksgiving meal. And, she proudly adds, "I make everything
from scratch, using Mom's and Dad's recipes. My son and I love the
sausage stuffing and we all love mashed turnips and potatoes made
with chopped onions and sauteed in bacon [fat]. It wouldn't be
Thanksgiving without them. But the cranberry sauce comes right out
of the can. Why? Because my family insists it has to be on the
table."

Jack Hoffman of Bergenfield can relate: "Everything on our table
is 'real' except for the cranberry sauce. We always have that can of
Ocean Spray cranberry. It's like 'Fiddler on the Roof': 'Tradition!'
"

Josephine Spenillo of Riverdale still recalls the year she tried -
- unsuccessfully -- to break that tradition. "I decided to make the
fresh cranberries and I even hollowed out orange halves to make this
really pretty presentation. My family wouldn't even try it. They
just wanted the canned stuff!"

On Thanksgiving, cranberry sauce isn't the only bone of
contention. Some folks simply have to have their canned gravy,
instant stuffing (with or without enhancements), canned sweet
potatoes (buried under a heap of melted marshmallows), creamed
onions courtesy of Birds Eye, and a few other old favorites that,
for some families, never seem to go out of style.

For Terry Milford of West Milford, one of those "classics" is
Pillsbury "Poppin' Fresh" biscuits. "We always have the canned
cranberry sauce and we have to have those biscuits," she says.
"Other than that, everything is made from scratch -- sweet potatoes,
stuffing in and out of the bird, turnips, cauliflower in cheese
sauce and ... what else? Oh, the turkey."

(Pillsbury clearly appreciates being associated with this holiday
and has several Thanksgiving recipes on its website, including one
for individual green bean casseroles made in "cups" using the dough
from its crescent rolls.)

Some chefs who whip up their own cranberry sauce -- a relatively
easy recipe -- may assume they're emulating the Pilgrims. They're
not. What we know today as cranberry sauce didn't become popular
until the 1930s, after being tossed together by Elizabeth Lee, a
cranberry farmer from Monmouth County.

Other farmers and homemakers were most likely making some
variation of the stuff back then. …